Another Chance at Happiness
by awhitewolf
Summary: Allison and Rika, the two new girls, have never had any friends besides each other. Lied to and betrayed several times, the sharp tongued Allison never lets anyone near, yet unexpectedly, they befriend the two Sohma's in their class: Momiji and Hatsuharu. Will the two leave them just like everyone else, or will they help them overcome their pasts? MijixOC & possible HaruxOC/YukixOC
1. Chapter 1

"ALLY, GET UP! YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE FOR YOUR FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!" My mother screeched from downstairs.

I jolted out of bed, suddenly wide awake, letting out a few curse words as I ran about the room, picking up my uniform - a sailor suit.

After pulling my shirt and disgustingly short skirt on, I ran down the staircase, bag in hand, quickly grabbing a piece of toast that was already prepared by my lovely and amazing mother, before sprinting out the door. I only lived a few blocks away from my new school, and I've walked past it dozens of times within the past two weeks I've lived here, so getting lost wasn't the problem, but being late was.

**"BRINGGGGGG"** By then I was already in the classroom, gasping for air, so happy that I made it on time.

"You must be one of the new students I presume?" The teacher spoke from her seat at her desk.

"Ah, hai!" I squeaked out, suddenly shy.

Out of no where I received an encouraging pat on the back, "Hey, there's no need to be so shy Ally!"

I looked down over my shoulder to meet the smiling face of my best friend, Rika. I soon felt myself relax as I gazed into her diamond colored eyes. They were so pale that one could mistake them for white, although if you looked deeply enough it would be clear that they were not white, but a very pale blue.

I felt myself smile back at her before turning back to the teacher, "My name is Hitomi-sensei, and I will be your new homeroom teacher. Would you two like to introduce yourselves to the rest of the class please?" She asked but we both truly knew it wasn't a question, but more of a command.

"Sure! My name is Rika Jansen and I am 15 years old! I was born and raised in Holland up until I was 3, in which I had moved to Japan and have been living here ever since. It's really nice to meet you!" She looked towards me expectantly before I let out a soft sigh and turned towards the class.

I cleared my throat, "My name's Allison Romano…and ano… I'm half American and half Italian but I have lived in Japan my entire life," I bowed while solemnly uttering, "Please take care of me."

Hitomi-sensei clasped her hands together with a smile, "Okay, that was great! Now if any of you have any questions, ask them on your break! Romano-san, you sit next to Momiji-san. And you, Jansen-san… you can sit in the back row behind Fujimoto-san."

We stared questioningly at her, having absolutely no idea who she had told us to sit next to. She returned our gaze with a furrowed brow before her eyes grew in realization as she let out a laugh, "Oh! Gomen, gomen. I forgot that you were new students for a second there! Silly me! Momiji-san and Fujimoto-san, please raise your hands so that these two know where to sit."

Two hands raised in the air, and as soon as I found my seat, I nearly ran to the chair after being the center of attention for so long. I walked to my seat slowly before tossing my bag on the floor and sitting in the chair abruptly with a thud, letting out yet another sigh while looking directly to the front of the classroom not wanting to make any eye contact with the dozens of pairs of eyes contemplating my every move.

I closed my eyes while slumping forward in my chair, wishing that for the love of god, the teacher would start with the lesson already so that people would stop watching me.

'_I just hope this day will end really soon…_'

* * *

**- LUNCH TIME -**

As soon as I left the P.E. locker rooms, I went straight to the cafeteria to scan the crowds for Rika, knowing with her parents busy schedule and her own carelessness, she would most likely be buying lunch today. Frustrated after looking for about 15 minutes I let out a groan in complete and utter annoyance.

"ALLYYYYY!" Suddenly I was nearly tackled to the ground by my shorter companion from behind as I gave out a yelp in surprise.

The moment she let go of me I quickly turned around to glare down at her and ranted exasperatedly, "Rika! Where the hell have you been?! I've been waiting for you the entire time! Now we aren't even going to have time to eat lunch!"

She smiled sheepishly, "I'm sorry, A-chan… but at least I just got my lunch so now we can go eat!"

I sighed looking off to the side, forgiving her, "Whatever. I guess it's fine…"

Her eyes widened in remembrance of something, "Oh yeah! Momiji-kun from our homeroom invited us to go eat lunch with him and Hatsuharu-kun… that's okay right?"

A small smile made way to my face, "Mmm…yeah."

_'Maybe, this time... I think it'll be okay to try...once more.'_

"RIKA-CHAN! YOU TWO ARE STILL COMING TO EAT WITH US RIGHT?" A loud voice shouted from across the cafeteria.

I turned my head to see a short blonde kid making his way over to us, along with a kid with bleach white hair and black roots. _'Wow… he really looks like a girl… and he's so small too… barely taller than Rika… So weird… I wonder how old he is?… And that other guy too… his hair is so cool… I wonder how he made it like that…'_

Snapping me out of my train of thought, Rika grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the two, us meeting each other halfway across the room.

"Well… A-chan said it's fine so yes! Where do you want to sit?" she gleefully responded.

"Oh, over there! That table's empty, so lets go there!" Momiji pointed.

Soon we were all seated and I began to open up my lunch container to find a small turkey sandwich cut in half. I smiled at the western styled lunch, thinking of my mom, while taking a bite.

Rika pouted, twirling a strand of her shoulder length sleek black hair between her fingertips,"You're so lucky, Ally! I wish my mom would make me lunch! Although… it probably wouldn't turn out as well as your mom's… "

I gave out a chuckle, "Rika, Elena-san's(her moms name) not **THAT** bad of a cook. Plus, you know she doesn't have the time in the morning to make you lunch…"

"She is a horrible cook and you know it! Remember that time a few years ago when we invited you and your parents over for dinner, right?"

I nodded and she continued, "Well before you came, she nearly burnt the house down when she tried making a roasted chicken! So we ended up just ordering food in for it instead because the whole kitchen was ruined!"

I began laughing in realization, "Oh my god! That's why you wouldn't let us in the kitchen?! That's ridiculous!"

After a few minutes I wiped the tears out of my eyes and took a deep breath before looking at Rika's embarrassed and slightly irked face before breaking out in giggles all over again.

"Stop laughing! It's not funny, you jerk!" She hissed at me as I laughed even harder unable to control myself.

"Wow! Both of you guys seem to have really interesting parents! They seem really fun!" Momiji cheered while Haru nodded in agreement.

I replied modestly scratching the back of my neck, "Well I wouldn't say that they are REALLY interesting…"

"Oh so _**now**_ you're done laughing, huh?" she directed towards me, her arms crossed over her chest.

I gave out a cheesy smile to her and a nod as she began pulling on my cheeks really hard while she muttered darkly, "You piss me off so much. You're really annoying. Super annoying. Mega annoying."

I began whining as she continued pinching them harder while speaking to herself, "WAH! STOP! It hurts! It hurts!"

"You two are really close, ne? How long have you known each other?" A perky Momiji asked us

Rika paused in her tormenting, remembering that the two were here(most likely), before pulling her hands away and answering with a kind smile(as if that just didn't happen!), "Well, we met each other in the beginning of grade school… and we've been best friends ever since!"

I rubbed my still sore cheeks when I questioned out of curiosity, "Hey… Momiji-kun…. how old are you exactly? I mean… you look kind of young to already be in high school…"

Looking towards me he gave out a triumphant grin, surprising me, "I'm fifteen! Actually, just before we started school I had turned fifteen! My birthday is April 3rd!"

My jaw dropped widely in disbelief, "Wait a second… that means that… that… THAT YOU'RE OLDER THAN ME?!" I just about shouted towards the end, standing up out of my chair.

A hand was on my shoulder in an instant, pushing me back into my seat, "Ally, calm down. A lot of people are older than you, it's nothing to freak out about!"

I sighed in defeat sulking, "But… I'm always the youngest… it's not fair…"

"Really? How old are you?" The up until now, silent Hatsuharu asked.

"She's still fourteen and still will be for another… three months, is it? I mean your birthday is in July and right now it's April… so yeah, I think thats right, ne Ally-chan?" Rika looked towards me for confirmation.

I nodded a bit meekly as Momiji inquired, "But… wouldn't that mean you're still supposed to be in middle school still? How are you in high school?"

A bit bashful, I wrung my hands together, "Well, my parents put me in school early when I was little so I guess that's why…"

Rika gave out a giggle, "Plus, it isn't like they've ever had any reason to hold her back a year! I mean, she gets all A's! I just wish she would lend some of her brains to me…"

"Oh, so Ally-chan's really smart huh?" He questioned me with a soft smile.

A bit of a blush came to my cheeks at how the whole conversation turned to me as I chewed on my lip mumbling, "Well I wouldn't say that…"

Slinging her arm around my shoulders Rika cooed, "Aww, A-chan! You're too modest! And you're just SO CUTE when you are embarrassed!" She then began to glomp me.

"SHUT UP! You're so annoying! Let go of me, idiot!" I complained attempting to push her away as she held her death grip on me.

Momiji let out a laugh, "Both of you are really cute! I just want to hug you!"

Rika then let go of me looking up with sparkling eyes and fingers laced together at Momiji, "Oh, Miji-kun! Of course you can have a hug!"

Quickly, she stood up and nearly skipped over to the other side of the table to reach him. Seeing both of the boys faces freeze I knew immediately that they weren't comfortable with the situation. I hurriedly stood up and caught the back of her shirt just as she was going to hug Momiji.

"Huh? A-chan? Why did you do that?" She said confusedly looking over her shoulder to see me.

"Um… well I… uh…I thought-"

"BRINGGG!" The bell sounded, cutting off my words(or lack thereof to be more precise).

I nervously smiled, "Wow, I guess it's time to head back to class huh? See you guys!" I giggled apprehensively before hurriedly speed walking to my next class.

"Hmm… that was weird…" Haru trailed off openly.

Rika snorted in response, "You're telling me?"

* * *

**- Next day at homeroom -**

I entered the classroom silently with Rika at my side babbling on about something that I wasn't even paying attention to.

As soon as she caught a glimpse at the full head of light blonde hair she cheerfully called out waving, "Momiji-kun! How are you?"

He looked around to meet her gaze, acknowledging her for a moment, before turning his head off to the side as he happily continued conversation with another classmate, completely ignoring her.

Rika's expression dropped, and her hand fell down to her side, "Why… why is he not talking to us, A-chan?"

I attempted to smile reassuringly, "I bet he just didn't hear you… we can catch him at lunch later, okay?"

Rika grinned, back into her joyful mood, "Okay!"

* * *

**- LUNCH TIME -**

We walked around the cafeteria searching for the two boys, Momiji in particular. _'I really hope that last time was just a mistake… I really don't want Rika to get bad again… It wouldn't be fair… I know I promised to myself to protect her, so why did I let those two people in? Maybe it was a bad idea to think we started being friends…'_

Suddenly I was bumped in the ribs by an extremely pointy elbow as Rika whispered hurriedly in my ear, pointing over to the two Sohma's, "Look! There they are! Let's go try and talk to them!"

She grabbed my hand and pulled me behind her, smiling at the two, "Hey! Momiji-kun! Hatsuharu-kun! Do you guys want to…" she trailed off as the two, after seeing us, swiftly walked in the opposite direction.

The grip she had on my hand went limp, her face saddened as she spoke gravely, "It happened again, huh? Is it going to always be like this? Why do they always leave us out? Are…are we really that strange? Do… do they **_hate_** me?" Her voice got shakier and cracked near the end.

"NO!" I shouted grasping both of her hands in mine tightly.

Lowering my voice I spoke, my head bowed down so that my hair covered my eyes, "We aren't strange. No one hates you. We don't need them, okay? We have each other and that's all we need. **_No one else_**."

She wrapped her arms around me, and rested her head below my shoulder, "Yeah, I know… I just wanted… I wanted people to like me for once… I'm sorry." A few tears seeped through my clothing.

I patted her head, like I always did in these situations, and soothed her, "I know… its alright now. It's okay. It's my fault… I let them come in without even suspecting they might hurt you…"

She shook her head and continued to let a few shaky sobs pass as I held her.

A few minutes passed before she let me go, drying the remains of her tears, and smiled, "I'm okay now, A-chan. I know you worry about me a lot, but really I'm fine. I promise I won't ever do **_THAT_** again, so please… don't look at me so helplessly like that… you'll make me want to cry again."

I sighed but replied dryly, "Okay, I trust you, but still it's not like you can blame me for looking out for you. But if there's a next time you do **_THAT_**… please tell me… Im begging you. I promise it'll be okay."

She nodded and spoke softly, "I'll tell you if I turn bad again, I promise."

I patted her head one more time before I pulled her down to a nearby table, passing her a bento, attempting to lighten up the mood, "Here. I got my mom to make you an extra lunch, so let's eat!"

* * *

**- 4 DAYS LATER -**

"ALLY-CHAN! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?" An animated voice called from behind me.

Turning around I closed my eyes giving out a slight sigh, expecting the person to be Rika, "Ri-ri, please don't shout wh-" I opened my eyes to find the pale eyes I was expecting to be looking into, were a rich caramel color.

"Hey! I'm not Rika-chan!" The little blonde teased at me.

I blinked, shocked to see Momiji there. _'What is he doing? I thought he didn't like us… not that I blame him… I mean, he hasn't talked to us once ever since lunch on our first day, he ignored Rika too…He hurt her… I wonder… does he want something? What other reason is there for him to be here? No one else has talked to us either… but that's okay. It was like that at our other schools too, especially now it's hard because all of the groups and cliques here are formed… We're fine on our own, as long as we have each other… We don't need anyone else. As long as there's Mom and Rika, everything will be okay… So why is it that… him coming to greet me makes me happy… even if it's so obvious it's not because we're friends… Do I really long for people to like me that much? When did I start wanting to get my hopes up for things like this?…'_ I shook my head, _'No. I don't care whether he likes me or not. It doesn't matter… I shouldn't have to depend on others… I already have two people who really care for me, and that's more than enough. He probably doesn't even know how much he hurt Rika. He probably wouldn't even care either, if he did know.'_

"Ano… do you want something?" I decided to ask.

His light eye brows furrowed together, "No… why would I?"

"But we _aren't friends_, are we? So why else would you come here if it _wasn't_ for something?" I questioned a bit bitterly, arms crossed over my chest.

He stood stunned, "Why would you think that?" He paused changing to a smile, "Of course we're friends! I don't want anything from you…"

I rolled my eyes before I replied sarcastically, a bit peeved, "Well, **_sorry!_** I didn't know friends ignored each other and made people feel like shit about themselves!"

A confused expression took over his face, "What… what are you talking about?"

I rubbed my temples with my fingertips, "Look, every time Rika tried to talk to you, both you, you and that Hatsuharu-kun, you completely ignored her!" I looked at him angrily, clenching my fists, suppressing myself from screaming and speaking instead in a dead serious tone, eyes down cast, "How do you think it made _her_ feel? Everyone ignoring you, and leaving you as an outcast… _is something you'd probably never understand!_ She thinks everyone hates her! You…. you don't even know how much it hurts her to see people reject her… **_It tears her apart inside!_**"

He stood aghast, speechless while I continued, looking up speaking directly to him, "After everything she's been through, she doesn't need something like this. I was so stupid to think I could let people in again. I can't let her get hurt anymore… So just… _just leave us alone_! I don't want to get her hopes up and let her down again! I _can't_ do it!"

As soon as I spoke out in to the open I turned around and began to storm off. Hearing footsteps behind me, I picked up the pace to a fast walk, to a jog, and then into a full on sprint down the school hallways.

"HEY! WAIT, PLEASE! I WANT TO SAY SOMETHING! AT LEAST LET ME DO THAT!" Momiji hollered from behind me.

I came to a sudden halt at the school's front gate and turned around to see him bent over panting, trying to catch his breath.

"Wow", He said between breaths, "You're really fast…"

"I used to be on track a few years back," I explained with a slight shrug.

Finally able to speak he stood up, "I was going to say… that I'm really sorry we did that. We didn't mean to, it's just that… we needed to take more precautions, I guess you could say?" He sort of asked himself towards the end, shaking his head he gave out a bright smile towards me, "Anyways… we really want to make it up to you, and I'm sorry we didn't realize it earlier that we offended you. I promise to apologize to Rika-chan too… so can we still be friends?"

My eyes widened in absolute shock, my mouth not able to come up with any words. _'He… he apologized… no one… no one's ever said sorry… no one has ever wanted us to be friends to this extent… Just what do I say? Can I really trust him? Is it okay… I- I don't know… what to do…' _

A voice to the left of us pulled me from my thoughts, "Hai. We can still be friends. I-I would be really happy if we could do that."

Turning my neck, I breathed out at the site of the girl, "_**Rika…**_"

She wiped the tears off with her sleeve, before walking up and grabbing Momiji's hands in her tiny ones, "I… I want to be friends with you, Momiji."

Momiji smiled in relief and spoke, "I'm sorry for ignoring you…I promise I won't hurt you, the both of you." His eyes trailed over to me.

The corners of my lips turned up a bit and I spoke twiddling my hands together, "I guess it would be fun to be friends too…"

Two arms wrapped around me and I found that Rika was the one embracing me, as she whispered, "Thank you"

A bit confused I looked at her questioningly as she pulled away but she just smiled back in return. _'Thank you? Thank you, for what? I don't understand…' _

"Momiji-kun! How about us three go get some ice cream or something? It could be fun!"

His childlike eyes widened in excitement, "Totally, Rika-chan! It'll be super fun! Oh, I know the perfect place! Come on, let's go!" He quickly grabbed our hands before dragging us along into the streets.

_'I really hope that this time... no one will get hurt... I think... I think this time, we might have actually found friends!'_

* * *

_** DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FRUITS BASKET!**_

**PLEASE REVIEW! I PLAN TO UPDATE REALLY SOON! KEEP TUNED TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE TWO NEW GIRLS AND THEIR STORIES! **


	2. Chapter 2

All four of us(Momiji, Rika, Haru, and me) were chatting as we made our way to homeroom.

"…And then I went to the cultural festival and met Tohru-chan for the first time! It was so fun and my two other cousins were going to this school already, so I decided to come here for high school! And of course, I convinced Haru to come with me too!" Momiji chirpely spoke.

Rika inquired a bit intrigued, "Hmm… I wonder… just how many cousins do you guys have? You sure mention a lot of them… how closely related are you all?"

"I have so many! We have too many cousins to even count! And many of the cousins I'm talking about are very distant… The Sohma family is huuuuggggeeee!" He exaggerated the word.

"Oh, well that's cool… Who is this Tohru you always talk about? I think both me and Rika would want to meet her, from all the stories you've told us…" I spoke, truthfully wanting to meet the said girl.

Starting to get a little too excited he hyped, "Tohru-chan?! I can introduce you guys to her at lunch today! She's so _cute_!"

"Although… her friends are a bit different, I guess you could say…" Haru thoughtfully inputed.

I looked up towards him, "Really? How so?"

"One's a yankee and the other's a psychic." He bluntly put it.

"A yankee…. **AND** a psychic…." I trailed off imagining the two in my head as I shuddered a bit speaking again, "Well that… that's interesting…"

"I guess you could put it that way…"

Momiji slightly hit Haru,"HARU! They aren't that bad! Tohru's friends are all really nice, just like Tohru!"

Hearing that, relieved me a bit and Rika smiled, "I'm really excited to meet them all!"

I nodded at her, "Me too."

* * *

"Momiji… _why_ are we going to the roof?" I asked cautiously.

Grinning over his shoulder he responded, "Tohru and everyone else always eat their lunch there! It's really cool!"

"Oh… okay then… "

Slamming the door open that led to the roof, the little blonde yelled out while running full speed, "TOHRU-CHAAAAAANNNNNNNNN!"

As I made my way over to them along with Haru and Rika we observed the site in front of us.

An older guy with bright orange hair quickly got up and stopped Momiji in his tracks by slamming him over the head with his fist shouting, "Goddamnit, Momiji! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Slumping, Momiji began to whine, "WAH! Someone help me! Kyo's a big meanie! WAH! Kyo's hurting me!"

The orange haired kid whose name I assume is Kyo started to grind his fist into Momiji's head growling in annoyance, "**_Shut up!_** Your voice pisses me off! Go away, you little runt!"

"A-Ano Kyo-kun…" A nervous looking girl with long brown hair stuttered out, wanting to stop the abuse before finding her gaze drift to our direction, "Ah, Momiji-kun! Are these your friends?"

Kyo paused in his noogie-ing to glance over at us, Momiji taking this moment to escape, walking in front of us flamboyantly spreading his arms as if he were a magician, "Yup! They're new to our class this year!"

Pointing to the dainty Rika he introduced, "This is Rika Jansen, she's from Holland!" Momiji then moved over to me, "And this is Allison Romano, but I call her Ally. Aren't they both just so pretty, Tohru-chan?"

The said girl softened her gaze at us, "Mhmm! They both are!"

Inspecting the girl furtherly I found her to be very average, but cute looking as well. She contained large chocolate brown eyes and light very long mahogany colored hair. Tohru had a heart shaped face with a clear complexion dusted with a light pink flush and was probably the same height or maybe even a little shorter than me. _'Wow…it's her… she seems really nice just like Momiji said but… I think he exaggerated her to be more than she actually is, but that's fine. He does the same thing with everyone, I guess…'_

Now that we were all seated, a girl with shoulder length blonde hair smirked at me, "Hey, I'm Arisa Uotani. But you can just call me Uo for short."

I was about to respond when another girl with long black hair braided off to the side along spoke in monotone, "And I am Hanajima Saki. May I say, both of your waves… they are… _interesting_. Different than most I believe you could say."

A bit confused, we(Rika and I) smiled at the pair, speaking in unison, "It's nice to meet you both!"

I took in their appearances a little more. The Uo girl had piercing green eyes and bleached hair parted to the side. Her face shape was a bit rounded and she had a few faded scars that were still visible on her smooth light peachy skin. Her uniform was the same as regular, except for the fact that her skirt didn't end all the way down until her ankles. _'Oh, this person must have been the 'yankee' Haru told us about. She seems pretty fierce looking, but she was nice to us…'_ Looking at the other girl, Hanajima contained dark purple eyes that were for the most part, as close to black as they could get with dark hair. She had a heart shaped face and skin so pale that you could tell she doesn't go outside a lot. _'And this must be the 'psychic' seeing as how she told us about our 'waves'… she's pretty, but seems like someone who'd wear gothic styled clothing.'_

"Hi! I'm Tohru Honda, it's nice to meet some of Momiji's and Hatsuharu-kun's friends for the first time!" The girl happily chattered.

"Oh you too! Momiji talks about you so much, Tohru-chan! It's nice to finally see the real you in person!" Rika excitedly responded.

Another person then came into view with a light smile, "Hello. I'm Yuki Sohma. Thank you for watching over our cousins for us." He pointed over to the ginger boy who was silently munching on onigiri, "That idiot over there is another one of my cousins, Kyo Sohma."

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING AN IDIOT, YOU DAMN RAT?" The kid screeched, standing up quickly.

"You, of course." Yuki retorted blatantly.

Ignoring the two as they continued arguing, I took a few bites of my spaghetti. Looking at Yuki, I saw his 'perfect' features everyone raved about. He had a heart shaped face, silver hair that was cut short and had two strands longer than the rest, along with eyes the shade of a beautiful amethyst stone. His skin was smooth and fair and clung perfectly to his tall figure._ 'He's more beautiful than handsome. A bit girly looking if you ask me… Honestly, why do all these girls at school like him so much? It's just because he's good-looking isn't it..? This guy even has his own fan club. He seems like a bit reclusive, seeing as all his smiles are so pathetically fake… I wonder why he hides behind his mask like that?'_ Observing Kyo he had orange reddish hair and red eyes, which I admit was unusual. He had tanned skin and a combination between an oval and a heart shaped face. _'He looks pretty athletic… I bet he gets into fights a lot since I can already tell he has a short temper…'_

Coming back to reality, Kyo stomped over to Yuki, "OKAY, PRETTY BOY! LET'S DO THIS RIGHT HERE, RIGHT N-"

He was cut off by Uo, seeing as she kicked him from behind and he fell flat on his face, as the girl muttered darkly from above him, "Oi! Calm the hell down and eat some of Tohru's delicious food, you inconsiderate idiot!"

Grumbling, the boy walked back over to his spot before shoveling another onigri into his mouth.

Rika piped up from next to me, "Hey, how did job hunting go A-chan?"

My eyes widened in remembrance of it before I let out a sigh, "Not very good. No one wants to hire me because I'm a_ little_ young. So annoying..."

"Oh yeah… Now that you mention it, it's probably harder for you since the youngest age usually hired for working is fifteen. What kind of job would you want anyway?"

"I dont really care… Any normal job would be fine, as long as it was a regular one that paid minimum wage, I mean, I just want some extra money." I lied casually.

I thought to myself once again, feeling bad for lying. _'It's not because I want extra cash. I seriously **need** a job soon. Mom can't afford the rent on our place, so the very least I could do is help. We're probably going to get evicted soon, and then who knows what will happen to us then? I need to find a job, or else Mom's going to overwork herself even more, and I **can't** let that happen.'_

"Hmm…I think maybe you can come to the place I work at! They would probably hire you! And they pay minimum wage! I mean, that is if working as a janitor is okay with you?"

"Really? Are you serious? That would be amazing! Of course I wouldn't care if it's that kind of job!" I replied completely enthused.

Momiji then popped in, "My dad owns the building Tohru-chan works in, so I am sure I could definitely help you get the job there, Ally-chan!"

I smiled gratefully, "Thank you so much. I will gladly work there…"

He gave out a laugh, "It's no problem! You're a friend after all!"

I grinned back at the word. '_**Friend**'? It's nice to hear that from someone… Maybe, bit by bit, Rika and I… we'll surely expand our suffocatingly small world. Already, I feel as though it's getting bigger.'_

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FRUITS BASKET!**

**FROM ME: Thank you to the people that have reviewed, followed, and/or favorited my story! It means a whole bunch! This chapter was short, but it'll get better. In response to 8Stargazer5, Rika in fact does have a personality disorder, BPD(or Borderline Personality Disorder). In the next few chapters, things will start coming together more and will be less confusing to you, the readers. PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW, CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM WOULD BE GLADLY APPRECIATED! KEEP READING TO FIND OUT WHAT WILL HAPPEN!**


	3. Chapter 3

"So you're fine with going, right Ally?" Rika's voice interrupted my thoughts.

Smiling apologetically I looked towards her, "Ah, gomen. I zoned out a bit while you were talking… What were you saying?"

She sighed, clearly annoyed, "I _**was**_ saying that Momiji-kun and Haru-kun invited us to go check out the new candy store and I was asking if would you be able to go or not?"

"Oh. Yeah, I can come along." I answered plainly.

"Shouldn't you call your mom or something? She might get worried if you don't…"

I casually responded, "Nah, it's fine. She's not supposed to be home anyways until later tonight 'cuz of work."

Rika furrowed her brows together, a bit upset, "Well make sure that she doesn't work**_ too_** hard. I mean, your mom can be a bit reckless with that sort of thing."

I let out a laugh, "I know, It's fine though. I'm keeping an eye on her."

"Somehow you saying that doesn't give me too much confidence…"

I smacked her shoulder, "You're such a jerk, Ri-ri!"

She chuckled a bit before hearing the bell and giving me a little wave, "See ya later! I'll meet you at your locker after school."

I gave a brief nod in response then turned in the opposite direction, walking to my next class.

* * *

"… Then I spent the night at A-chan's and her mom and I had a contest to see who would fall asleep first, and I won! I was so happy since it's usually always her that wins, but this time, it was me!" Rika cheerily told them, ending the long story of her whole weekend.

"Oh that's really cool, Rika-chan! But… why didn't you play, Ally-chan?" Momiji's eyes drifted over, meeting mine.

I turned my head, looking on forward, saying frankly, "Because it's stupid and pointless."

Rika defended, "Is not!"

I scoffed and replied sarcastically, "Yeah, because staying up all night and not sleeping is _such a great idea_!"

Rika pouted, "You just don't understand A-chan! You're always such a party pooper!"

I began twisting the handle to walk in to the new store Momiji told us about, while I admitted, "Fine, you're right. I guess I don't understand it, but nonetheless, it doesn't mean tha-"

I was cut short when I opened the door wide only to witness the greatest candy shop ever to have existed as both Momiji and Rika gave out a loud gasp.

When you walk in, there are black and white tiles on the floor. I looked straight ahead and saw that there were tubes filled with exotic candies, huge lollipops poking out of jars, hundreds of different types of boxed candies sitting beneath the counter, a section for the chocolatiers making their own homemade chocolates to sell, lines of gingerbread houses sitting next to each other, a station to make your own cotton candy, and lastly, on the other side was an ice cream parlor. Standing behind the farthest counter was an old lady with a warm and inviting smile.

She looked up, speaking jokingly, "Well are you all just going to stand there all day or what?"

Slowly we all walked in, still gawking at everything in awe. But soon enough I shook out of my stupor and grinned before pulling out a plastic bag from the front, and skipping over to the candies.

I then proceeded to grab my favorites: gummy worms, taffy, jellybeans and chocolate! Moving over to the next aisle of candies I continued to grab more of licorice and sour candies. Then I reached the boxed candies, where I found the American candies I really liked from when we visited there and began to pick them up from their resting place. I took Hot Tamales, Laffy Taffy, Nerds, Sour Patch Kids, and a box of Swedish Fish. As everyone else continued to grab their own sweets, I went to the cash register to pay.

"That would be 500 yen, little miss!" The old woman smiled.

My jaw dropped, "Are you serious?! But I got so much! Are you sure I don't have to pay more?"

She laughed, "I'm sure that it's enough. I don't like over charging on my merchandise."

"Well…okay…" I awkwardly spoke, passing over the money to her.

Walking back over to the group I saw Haru talking with one of the chocolatiers while Momiji and Rika were trying to get one of tubes of colorful gumballs to open.

As I got closer to the duo, Rika began hitting the container shouting, "Goddamn you! Why won't you open?! OPEN, OPEN, OPEN, OP-"

"Rika, you might not want to do that…" I started, but it was already too late.

The container then burst open, allowing all the gumballs to hit the floor, rolling away. Rika then slipped backwards from the impact, the candy lying on the ground only making it worse, as she slowly began to fall towards Momiji. Momiji had a terrified look on his face before he swiftly moved out of the way to avoid catching her.

As soon as she made contact with the hard floor she rubbed her head whining, "Ow…itai! It hurts!" looking up at Momiji she questioned, "Miji-kun! Why didn't you try and catch me?"

"Um…well… I'm sorry, Rika-chan…" The blonde apologetically looked at the girl, offering his hand to help her up.

Rika beamed at him before grabbing his hand, quickly forgiving him, "It's okay! I don't really mind anyways!"

"Well, more what I'm worried about is, just who's going to pay for this?" The old lady asked looked at us a bit upset.

* * *

The four of us sat on the bench outside of the candy shop making light conversation before Haru interrupted, "Momiji, I think it's time we start heading home."

"Awww, but I don't want to! I wanna stay with Ally-chan and Rika-chan!"

Haru looked a bit sternly at him, "Momiji, you **_know_** Hatori gets upset when you wait too long to start on your homework…We are leaving now."

Momiij gave out a loud, exaggerated sigh, "Fine."

He then stood up and smiled at us, giving us each a quick peck on the cheek before grinning widely at us, "Bye-bye! We'll see you two tomorrow!"

Haru gave a nod at us in farewell with a short, "Goodbye."

We both waved as their backs retreated away from us.

Rika then let her hand drop before turning to me, contemplating, "You know…Momiji sure isn't shy. He really does seem like the 'hug-type' of person so I wonder _why_ he's never embraced us before…like just today, even when I was falling, he didn't touch me!"

I bit my lip trailing off, "I guess it is a bit strange…but everyone has their own reasons for things. I don't think it's not that he doesn't like them but it's just uncomfortable for him for some reason…"

"Hmm…do you think I should give him a surprise hug sometime?" She grinned a bit slyly.

A bit nervous for the blonde, I spoke, "Ano…I don't think it's a good idea to do that, Rika. I think that if you want him to embrace you and if you don't force yourself on him…he'll probably just do it out of his free will when he feels like it."

She sighed before complaining, "Fine…but you're no fun, A-chan!"

* * *

**MOMIJI'S POV **

"You really need to be more careful, Momiji. You almost had them find out about the secret again. We can't just try and avoid them like last time (reference to chapter 1) so that they won't get too close and find out." Haru warned me.

"I know, I know…but I was thinking…do you really think it'd be that bad if they found out?" I paused at Haru's skeptical look, "I mean, maybe they will be like Tohru and won't even mind the curse!"

"Yeah, but there's always the chance that they **_won't_** be like Tohru. Besides, if they did accept it, there's still Akito and who knows how he could react to more outsiders knowing about the curse? He was unsure of even letting _Tohru_ keep her memories."

Glumly I responded, "I know that. But still…for some reason, I wish they knew about us… That way, I could actually say that they truly do accept us."

He sighed, "Momiji, it's better like this for them. We don't want to have another situation like Kana and Hatori, right? The less they know about us, the safer it is for them."

I nodded as we both continued to walk in silence towards the main house.

_ 'I really do want them to know about us…but right now, as long as I can see that those two are fine and smiling with us, it'll be okay. Now, with everything like this…it's probably the best it could possibly get so no one would get hurt. Still…I can't help but wonder what could happen.'_

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FRUITS BASKET! ONLY MY TWO OC's!**

**So, to clear things up, the reason Momiji and Haru avoided the two girls (Rika and Ally) was due to Rika almost hugging Momiji and the two Sohma's not wanting them to find out about the secret. Oh and 500 yen is equal to about five US dollars. Next chapter will be more interesting (sorry for those of you who got bored) seeing as today was showing how close they've all gotten. I'll probably start adding in different POV(Point of View) changes for this story as well. Anyways, please review! Criticism would be much appreciated! **


	4. Chapter 4

**ALLY'S POV**

_'Finally, school's over for today. Now, time to get ready for work! I feel so accomplished for having found a job so soon! Tohru really is nice, just as Momiji said…speaking of which, Momiji's family must be really rich if his dad can own that huge building!'_

As I reached the tree near the front gate of the school, otherwise known as mine and Tohru's "meeting spot", I patiently waited for Tohru to come. Standing still, I began looking up at the sky, hands crossed behind my back.

_'Wow …I feel so small…This is really nice…Just how long has it been since the last time I've actually looked at the sky?...'_

"Ally-chan…? What are you looking at…?" The ever-so innocent Tohru questioned curiously from beside me.

"Ah, nothing much. Just the sky. It's so beautiful...It's also in a sense very comforting to see that all of our troubles in life can't compare to the vastness of space." I paused before adding thoughtfully, "Before, I used to live in a city where the smog was so thick from machines, that you couldn't even see the sky…I guess I sort of realized just now why I used to feel so suffocated and overwhelmed all the time back then….it was because I forgot how trivial and insignificant things can really be and that sometimes…_sometimes you need to let yourself breathe_."

Looking back at her I saw that her gaze drifted upwards toward the big, blue vast of space, "You're right. The sky...It's so big!"

"Mmm…yeah…" I agreed as we kept staring, my eyes wandering.

"**TOHRUUU-CHAAANNN**! Guten tag*! How have you been?! You're going to work, right?" The little German boy came from literally no where.

_'Oh thanks so much for noticing that I'm here too, Momiji…'_ I thought to myself annoyed.

Her eyes widened a bit in surprise before she closed her eyes smiling kindly, "Everything's been great, Momiji! And yes, I'm going to work. Although, Ally-chan and I should be leaving soon though…"

"Hai! You're right, Tohru-senpai!" I said hurriedly, hooking my arm around hers before starting to drag her. Looking back I waved over my shoulder, "T'was nice seeing you again, Momiji-kun!"

"Huh? Wait! I wanna come to work with you guys! Remember, I told you I would come earlier today, Tohru-chan!" He exclaimed quickly catching up with us.

"**EH?!**" Tohru began to apologize, "Gomenasai! I completely forgot that you had said that...I'm so sorry!"

He giggled, "It's alright! This is going to be so much fun!"

"Ah, um_…yes.._?" Tohru let out a bit confused.

I groaned internally _'Great…now I'm just going to be the third wheel at work...'_

* * *

**A few hours later**

It was now dark outside and I was continuing on cleaning the windows on the other side of the building from where Momiji and Tohru were.

Spraying more cleaning solution on the window in front of me I began thinking to myself. _'Hmm… it's almost time to leave work. I just have to finish up this last window. I wonder if Tohru's finished already…I bet she's had a lot of help from Momiji but they could still be moving things around…'_

Looking back at the window, I found that it was clean and spotless. I then began walking in the opposite direction to return the cleaning supplies, and also to check if Momiji and Tohru were still in the building.

"So Momo, what would you like for dinner tonight?" A smooth, accented voice came from behind me.

"A-ano… maybe some Okonomiyaki? I had it at a friend's house one time… I thought it was really tasty…Will you be able to make it, Mutti* p-please?" A little girl replied, stumbling over her words a bit.

Stopping, I turned around to see a tall, beautiful woman with sunflower gold hair and dark green eyes. She wore her hair up in an elegant bun that showed off her white creamy skin along with some pearl earrings and a light shade of red lipstick. Looking down, I realized she was holding her daughter's small hand, who very much resembled her mother as well. She contained the same blonde shade of hair and skin color, but in addition having large, round chestnut colored eyes.

I continued staring at them in a bit of realization and awe as they continued their conversation, walking past me as I gawked. _'Wow! That __**must**__ have been Momiji's mother and little sister! He must've been German from his mom's side of the family...They looked so alike…but Momiji looks more like his mother than his sister does, I have to admit…'_ Coming back to reality, I shook my head around, _'No! Now's not the time for daydreaming! I should __**tell him**__ that they're here before his family leaves without him!'_

Quickly, I nearly ran over to the cleaning supplies closet to put everything I had used away hurriedly. _'I have to hurry and tell him! They're probably expecting him to be home already!'_ I slammed the door to the closet before running over to the room Momiji and Tohru were in.

I paused, my hand on the handle ready to open the door when I suddenly heard the conversation the two were having making me reconsider if I should really open it or not. I put my ear against the door to listen more closely.

"…then I…disappeared from Mother's memory. Mother recovered quickly, two months later she even started smiling again." Momiji explained to Tohru still in a soft voice, tinged with sadness that was very different from his usual happy tone.

My eyebrows knotted together in confusion. _'Dissapeared from his mother's memory…? What does he mean by that? She doesn't remember him…? She forgot him?! __**I don't understand a thing…**__'_

He trailed off, "So I guess I saved mother, in a way…"

My eyes softened at that _'Momiji… he must be so sad… He must want his mom to recognize him, but for some reason, she can't do that…she can't remember him… It must be horrible…'_

"...but you know there's something I believe," He took a small pause, "I want to try and live my life carrying all my memories with me. And _even if_ those memories are painful, _even if they do nothing but hurt me_, **_I want to keep them._** Even those memories I sometimes wish I could forget."

I covered my mouth with both hands as I let out a swift gasp while flashes flitted through my mind of father's face, Rika laying helplessly, unconscious, and the accident... Suddenly, tears started dripping from my eyes, on to the newly waxed floor as I bent over trying to keep silent so I could continue to listen.

Momiji continued, "As long as I carry them with me, as long as I can keep holding on, then _someday I'll be strong enough that those memories don't hurt me anymore, and I'll be glad that I have them._ That's what I believe with all my heart. That's why all my memories are precious to me, I don't think it would be okay to forget a single one. And that's why the truth is I didn't want mother to forget about me, I didn't. What I wanted was for her to hold on, but I guess that was selfish of me..."

Even more tears escaped as I tried to stop, but couldn't as the memories flashed by. _'For a time, all I wanted to do was forget… __**I wanted to forget everything**__. I-I even wanted to forget dad. That was the only thing that used to be on my mind since all of the memories were just so painful… I couldn't even stand to think about them. I was scared. I wished and wished for me to be able to forget. I wanted the memories of us together to fade because I wasn't strong enough to face them…'_

I began shakily getting up from my position on the floor, standing up straight.

"Let's keep this a secret, _okay_?" The boy's voice found it's way even through the door, back to it's usual tone. Tohru's muffled crying then became louder, I could even hear her footsteps race over to embrace him, and a sudden popping sound come out of the room.

I rubbed my damp eyes, making sure to get rid of any trace that I was crying, _'Me too. I believe that too, Momiji. Even if they hurt me… and make me sad and cry…maybe…just maybe, one day, if I don't run away, I will finally be able to look back at them and be able to face them head on because all of those memories_…' I put my hand on the handle again as I began opening it with a smile_, '…They're all so very important and precious to me!'_

The door wide open, finally let out some brightness to the room I was in from before as I glanced around the room searching for the two.

My eyes fell upon Tohru as she became flustered, and quite surprised, "_ALLY-CHAN?!_ U-um, what are you doing here?! It's really late… I thought that you'd left already…"

"Ah…well I had to finish up on a few things…" I trailed off before pausing and questioningly slowly, a bit curious, "Um…Tohru-senpai, why are you holding **_a rabbit_**?"

"Well, I, ano…" She worried out loud.

I put my hand up stopping her before moving closer, "Never mind. It's fine, you don't need to explain."

I patted the stiff little bunny on the head, gushing, "Awwwe, he's just so cute! Although, I don't know what the manager would say to this… but who really cares, anyway? He'd just have to forgive this little guy!" I giggled dismissively as Tohru nervously smiled in response, still visibly tense.

* * *

**TRANSLATIONS**

***Guten tag! = Good day!**

***Mutti = Mother**

**Thank you everyone for reviewing, I really enjoy reading them...I guess they motivate me to write even more! I would like to give my thanks to Elizabeth Blackrose and SmolderingBlackRose for your constant feedback(although I do appreciate everyones reviews!). Hopefully some of you liked this chapter, seeing as some of Ally's past experiences have been revealed. Sorry, it's been a few days past my last update but I really needed to go outside and socialize for a change... Oh! And I've made some edits of Ally and Rika so you could at least get the gist of what they look like on the link in my profile.**

**PLEASE REVIEW! Any pointers and criticisms would be much appreciated!**


	5. Chapter 5

"Why did this happen to me?" Rika exaggerated slumping forward on to her desk miserably as if she had just found out her house had burnt down. (And it's almost happened before!)

I let out a deep sigh in annoyance replying unwillingly, "What's wrong_ now_?"

She sat up looking at me gravely before throwing her arms up in the air and standing up, one foot on her chair, "It's _horrible_ I tell you, _horrible_! I mean, how could they do this to such a-"

"Just get to the point!" I agitatedly shouted, cutting her off.

She froze, stopping her antics and held up a little piece of paper in her hand dejectedly towards me speaking, "They changed my schedule because it turns out I should be in a more advanced Math class that second years at this school take…"

"**_WHAT?_** How could this have happened? You'll still have homeroom with us, _right_?!" Momiji came in questioning desperate looking.

Rika seemed a bit surprised at his interruption for a second before smiling softly, "Yes, I will have homeroom here, it's just my classes between after lunch and the end of school have been changed."

"Yay! Now we'll all still be together!" He cheered.

She giggled, "Yeah! I guess you're right!"

* * *

**RIKA'S POV**

I sighed heavily as I walked down, looking between the school map in my right hand and my new schedule in the left.

'Great, now I'm _lost_… Why is this school so big? Class is about to start soon and if I don't find my classroom, I'm going to be late!' I internally groaned to myself.

Suddenly the impact of something hard and solid hit me before I quickly hunched over towards the ground holding my head in pain. I looked up angrily, only to see that the object I had bumped into was a wall.

A bitter chuckle escaped my lips before I spoke sarcastically to myself aloud, "Wow, today **_must_** be my lucky day!"

I felt a quick tap on my shoulder from above me and a soft voice call out, "Ano… Miss Jansen… are you alright?"

I turned around to have my gaze meet with one containing lilac colored orbs before quickly standing upright, "Oh! Sohma-san, it's you! I'm fine, I'm fine… Although, I'm more concerned about where my classroom is…" I trailed off at the end.

He gave me a smile that didn't reach his eyes, "Is that so? May I look at your schedule for you?"

"Um, sure…" I responded slowly handing it over to him.

_'Weird… Does he always smile like that? It… it looked so sad the way he smiled… Empty and very lonely looking…'_ I stared on at him a bit more closely before brushing my thoughts away. _'No, that's not it. I probably just assumed wrong…He's just tired or something. How could someone so well liked by everyone AND nick named the Prince of Kaibara High possibly be lonely if he's always surrounded by people who admire him? __**Of course I was wrong.**__'_

He pressed his lips together, "Hmm… it looks like we are heading to the same class… Would you like me to walk with you, Miss Jansen?"

I closed my eyes, lips curling up into a large grin, "That would be really great! Thank you so much!"

"It's no problem", He replied, leading the way as I tagged along at his side.

A bit of an awkward silence passed over us before Yuki broke it, asking in curiosity, "So, why did you and Miss Romano transfer to this school?"

My breath hitched in my throat and I visibly tensed, "Uh well it's kind of a _long story_…"

"Oh, I apologize. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I don't wish to pry." Yuki quickly apologized, sensing how uncomfortable I was.

_'Geez Rika, don't make him __feel bad__ about it. It was just a simple question. You should be able to answer normally. What's done is done. Just tell him something. Don't be a chicken!'_ I thought to myself.

I gave out a deep sigh, calming myself down, "No. It's fine, you shouldn't feel bad about it. I was just caught a bit off guard by your question…" I trailed off before continuing, "The reason I came here has actually got a lot of explanations but I guess you could say I didn't really care for my old school. In fact, I _hated_ it."

"Huh? Why's that?" He looked down over his shoulder at me, watching my every expression.

I looked up at nothing in particular while we walked, recalling my past school days, speaking thoughtfully, "I felt like I was being suffocated. _Like I couldn't __**breathe**__._"

Yuki's face crumpled up in confusion, "I don't understand…"

I attempted at explaining, "It's just… I guess I hated the school environment. _The people, whether they were my classmates, or my teachers, or even my own so-called __**friends**__…_" My eyes hardened at the word, "They were all just cruel liars who never intended to keep any of their promises. Everything I can recall from that time was just…_very unpleasant_."

Seconds passed by before Yuki spoke, his eyes downcast "I am really sorry you had to go through something like that."

My head snapped up quickly, "Ah, it's not your fault! I was fine, I just _had_ to leave there. But everything's all better now, so there's no need to worry about me!"

"Well if you say so…" He replied before pointing over at a door a few steps away from us, "This is our classroom. I'll make sure to tell the teacher you got lost on your way here."

I looked up at him as we neared closer, beaming, "Thank you again! I would've never found the classroom with you!"

He returned the grin as the corners of his mouth twitched up into a beautifully contagious smile that I could tell was genuine, "It was no trouble at all. I'll always be here if you need some assistance, Miss Jansen."

My face grew hot all of the sudden and I ducked my head down, hiding my flushed face, muttering to Yuki, "Okay. Arigato, Sohma-san."

We then walked into class together, my cheeks still dusted a light pink as I tried to forget the pleasant feeling Yuki's smile brought to me. I looked down clenching my fist, sitting in my new seat frustrated with myself.

_'Just __**what**__ is going on with me…'_

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FRUITS BASKET OR IT'S WONDERFUL PLOT AND CHARACTERS.**

**Once again, sorry I've been late on the updates(stupid homework!), but I hope you will still be willing to read my story! Feedback on reviews for this chapter would be greatly appreciated, as always. What do you guys think of Yuki and Rika? I thought they would also be able to make a good pairing. I already have a good idea for the next chapter so I'll most likely post sooner! Also, if you would like to see what the characters look like, check out the link in my profile. THANK YOU FOR READING!**


	6. Chapter 6

**RIKA'S POV**

Relief filled me as the bell rang, ending school for today. I began exiting the classroom behind several other people. _'Thank god that's over. I actually managed to find all of my classes today. Now, I just have to get to my shoe locker then find A-chan so we can walk home together.' _

I hurriedly made it to my locker, quickly throwing off my current shoes and switching them for my own outdoor ones. I slipped them on both feet before lacing them up carefully. Soon, I was finished with that and stood up, my bag slung over my shoulder lazily while walking over to the door to leave.

"**HEY! YOU THERE, STOP!**" A loud voice boomed from behind me.

I paused looking over my shoulder seeing a group of about seven girls. I pointed to myself slowly, "Me?"

A different girl containing short brown hair shouted, "Yes, you! Jansen Rika, first year!"

I turned around to face them a bit confused at the anger evident on their faces, I questioned, "Um… is there something you need?"

"Oh stop trying to act so innocent! We all know what you've been doing so get off your high horse!" Another answered mockingly.

I pinched my lips together in a tight line before speaking out slowly, "I still don't understand what you are talking about…"

"You were talking all lovey dovey to the Prince today! And following him around to class which made him late! "

I attempted at defending myself, "But _he_ was the one who offered to-"

"He only did that from the kindness of his heart since he felt sorry for such a pathetic thing like you!" The brown haired girl interrupted.

My bag slipped from my grasp and on to the ground as a voice spoke to me echoing in my head.

**_'You're pathetic.' _**

Laughter began to surround me as I clenched my eyes shut, trying to block them out.

"Hah, that's exactly right, May-chan! No one would ever talk willingly to you!"

_'Shut up.' _

The giggles still continued while I covered my ears with my hands, slightly hunching over. I couldn't even tell if the laughter was coming from the group in front of me or the echoes of the past trapped inside my mind.

It began to get louder, as I muttered, "Shut up."

It was almost deafening and I screeched at the top of my lungs, uncovering my hands from my ears, "_**SHUT UP ALREADY!**_"

Silence. It was so thick that you could cut a knife through it and for a brief moment I felt relieved.

"What did you just say?" The girl who seemed to be the leader of the group demanded, her arms crossed over her chest while the rest stood around gawking at my outburst.

I stuttered, "Y-you heard me. Just l-leave me alone."

One snapped out of their trance, and threw herself at me, snarling, "Just who do you think you are?! Don't get a big head just because Prince Yuki decided to help you! You have no right to speak to us like that!"

My head pounded from the impact it made from the ground from when I was nearly tackled. I groaned in pain as they began to all circle around me on my spot on the floor.

The leader spoke once again, "Why don't we teach this freak her place, girls?"

A bunch agreed with wicked smiles on their face and 'May-chan' chided, "That's an excellent idea, Vice president-san."

Pain erupted from all sides as they began to kick at me. I curled up into a ball, trying to make myself as small as possible.

"_You're just a freak!_" One shouted.

Another girl added on, "That's right! Don't go off trying to taint someone like Prince Yuki with your filthy self! You're nothing compared to him! _Nothing_!"

**_'You have no worth. Just like a stone.'_** I shivered at the cold voice.

"Everyone here hates you! Just leave already!"

"Yeah, leave, you witch!" A red haired girl agreed.

My breathing got heavier and I began to shake as they continued with their beatings while taunting me at the same time. Laughter flit around and ringed in my ears as the voices started up again.

**'You're only a waste of space! It's no wonder why all your friends left you!'**

**'It's all your fault he ended up in the hospital!'**

**'Sorry, kiddo. We won't be home until late tonight.'**

**"Don't talk to her, she's evil!'**

**'Her eyes are so revolting and ghastly. They possess people.' **

**'You ruin everything.'**

Tears leaked down from my cheeks while I struggled to breathe, the girls around me enjoying their time. Suddenly they all paused to look behind them, I would've lifted my head up to see what caught they're attention but I couldn't even control my trembling body.

"_Just what the __**hell**__ do you think you're doing?_" Was the last thing I heard before I fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

**ALLY'S POV**

I was running around the school building looking for Rika. It's been twenty minutes since school ended and she didn't show up at the gate where we usually meet. Seeing as her class is now closer to where we meet I thought she'd be there first but after not coming I grew worried and decided to look for her.

_'I hope she's okay… I bet she just had to talk to her teacher after school or maybe she had to go to the office for something or-'_ I was cut off mid thought while I rounded the next corner, almost running straight into Momiji and Hatsuharu. Lucky for me, I quickly moved to the side to avoid collision.

"Ally-chan! Why are you running?" The little blonde curiously asked.

I breathed out, "I can't find Rika. She never showed up at our meeting place so I decided to look around in the school for her."

"Maybe she went home already." Haru deadpanned.

Shaking my head vigorously I spoke, "No, that's not possible. She wouldn't just forget or leave me there without telling me ahead of time."

Momiji smiled, "It's okay, Ally-chan! We'll help you find her!"

"Thank you so much. I'd really appreciate that." I looked at them gratefully with a smile.

* * *

I was just about to give up and tell the guys that we should just go home already since we couldn't find Rika anywhere when I heard a group of girls laughing. I followed the sound until I came across the large group as they circled laughing and teasing someone, Momiji and Haru right behind me. Anger began to pulse in my veins as I got a closer look to see who they where huddling around only to see Rika laying on the ground, curled up in fetal position.

I stomped over to them barely keeping my composure, my eyes narrowed, clenched fists at my sides, growling out, "_Just what the __**hell**__ do you think you're doing?_"

They all looked up in shock at me as I hissed like venom, "_What_? None of you are going to talk, huh? It seems like you had no trouble saying whatever you felt like early, so I beg of you. _Please, __**speak up**_."

"I-It's not what it looks like! We didn't do anything wrong! It was all her-" I cut the annoying girl off with a right uppercut to her face, unable to contain my rage. She stumbled a bit before falling on her butt on to the floor looking up at me with fear evident in her eyes.

"Hey, you can't do that!" One girl shouted from the group.

I glowered at the girl speaking in a bitter, scathing tone of voice, "_I can't do __**what**__? _I'm only taking lessons from you all."

The same girl countered, "She was the one who started it! She was-"

I interrupted, "I don't give a **shit** about who started it! If I were you, I'd be absolutely terrified. Because as of now, _I have no reason not to beat you all until your unrecognizable, you idiotic bastards_."

"B-but you're not even listening to us!" She said defensively as I strutted up to her.

I grabbed her shirt and yanked her towards me, bringing her face mere centimeters apart from mine, as stared seriously into her eyes speaking darkly, "_You stay the hell away from us. Come near her again and I'll personally come and put you in the hospital myself. __**I will kill you**_."

I pushed her to the ground as the rest cowered in fear as I waited for them to leave.

"Why are you all standing around? Get out of here **now** before I decide to change my mind."

They all scattered away and I dropped down next to Rika's unconscious form. My eyes began to water at the sight of her, her body beginning to bruise.

"Rika, wake up." I nudged her, "Wake up."

I waited before starting to shake her shouting about to burst into tears, "WAKE UP, RIKA! WAKE UP RIGHT NOW! WAKE UP!" I lowered my voice, bowing my head in desperation, "Please wake up, Rika. _Please._"

I felt slight movement and I looked down to see her opening her eyes. She slowly sat up and a smile formed on my face before I saw the look in her eyes. They were glazed over and I could tell that she wasn't at all here. She stood wobbly on to her feet before turning to run in the opposite direction.

I mumbled a few curses to myself before getting up quickly and running after her.

* * *

**RIKA'S POV**

My eyes slowly began to open and I sat up from my spot on the ground, unable to place where I was.

**'Look, it's the freak.'**

**'Why are you still alive?'**

**'We never even liked you in the first place. You were nothing but a toy to us.'**

The voices started again and I began to stand a bit wobbly before breaking out into a sprint.

Seeing an empty room I threw open the door before locking it behind me. My breath fastened and I wrapped my arms around my body as I quivered in fear, hyperventilating.

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

_"Why does everybody either ignore me or hate me now? I thought we were friends… Why does everyone leave?" I questioned to myself aloud, my voice cracking a bit while the tears trailed down my cheeks._

_"Well that's because no one could ever love someone like you." I turned to the voice which seemed to come from a girl about the same age as me._

_I defended, "Th-that can't be true…"_

_"Well it __**is**__ true, isn't it?" She paused before speaking again, "Everyone will always leave you no matter what. Your friends, your family, everyone. It's because none of them care. They all secretly __**hate**__ you. They're all just waiting for the day when they can leave you behind and no longer have to see your pathetic face ever again."_

_My eyes were wide with shock as the said girl carefully slipped out of the room just as carefully as she came in, leaving me with my thoughts._

* * *

"Don't leave…" I whispered as voices still continued in my head, "Don't _hate_ me…"

Tears escaped my eyes, as I stood up, "Why…why am I so alone? No one cares… _no one cares…"_

I flipped over a table, "DON'T LEAVE ME HERE! STOP!"

A little boy was suddenly pointing at me, **"You're pathetic."**

I threw a chair in his direction, "SHUT UP!"

He dodged it, "**Everyone will just leave you in the end**."

I continued throwing things around blindly, my vision covered in black as I shouted, "SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! **_SHUT UP!_**"

I collapsed on to the ground from my outburst, panting heavily, lifting up my head only to see no one here in the classroom.

_'Why? Why am I doing this **again**? I thought I was done with this… am I going to turn bad again? Why is this happening?'_ I thought to myself as I was finally able to control myself and take in my surroundings.

There was a banging on the door and I jumped at the sound of Ally's voice, "RIKA! OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW!"

I walked over and meekly opened the door speaking, "Ally, I think I'm getting _bad_ again. I'm so sorry you had to deal with me…"

Her eyes widened before she pulled me into her arms, "It's okay, Rika. I don't care. Just please don't run away like that… _I got really scared_."

"I'm sorry, A-chan. I'm really sorry." I apologized as a few tears fell from my eyes.

Ally patted my head comfortingly, speaking solemnly, "It's fine, I don't mind. It isn't _your fault_." She paused looking over me to see the whole classroom a mess, "But, we should probably clean up this class before anyone finds out, ne?"

I nodded and stepped away, turning into the classroom with Ally right behind me.

* * *

**ALLY'S POV**

We worked diligently cleaning up the classroom, but so far have only succeeded in getting about three quarters of the room done. I let out a loud yawn then turned to Rika to see her face focused on getting a paint stain of the carpeting.

_'I really hope this was just a fluke… She hasn't had an episode like this for more than a year. I don't know what I'd do if she turned back to her old ways.'_

Suddenly the door was slammed open and Momiji and Haru stood, seemingly relieved at finding us. _'__**Shit**__… I forgot they were here. They'll probably want some sort of explanation now.' _

"Are you two okay? Haru and I got really freaked when you both just left like that and," Momiji paused, finally noticing the wrecked room and asked, "Um… _what happened in here_?"

"I… I did it." Rika spoke out ashamed.

Momiji's eyebrows furrowed "But why would _you_ do this, Rika-chan?"

Rika was going to answer when I quickly intervened, "Ano, can we talk about this at a **better** time? Right now, we both could use your help."

"Sure," Haru answered plainly, picking up scattered papers off the ground.

Momiji joined in as well but not before questioning uncertainly, "You promise to tell us about it tomorrow, right?"

Rika nodded at him, "I promise."

I was surprised but decided not to say anything_. 'I hope they'll understand…I guess tomorrow we'll find out if they really are willing to stay our friends.'_

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FRUITS BASKET!**

**Hello everyone! Sorry if my chapters seem shorter lately but it's just because I've been busy with school and a lot of other stuff. This chapter basically shows a bit of Rika's traumatic past experiences… I might've left some questions unanswered but it'll all be explained soon enough, so there's no need to worry! In a few more chapters, Ally-chan's past will be looked into as well. Look forward to next chapter to see just how willing the two Sohma's will be after knowing the truth! Also, I'd like to thank SmolderingBlackRose once again for giving me feedback!**

**PLEASE REVIEW PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! I AM BEGGING YOU!**


	7. Chapter 7

I entered the empty classroom bare of anyone. I let out a heavy sigh, making my way over to my seat. Sitting down, I rested my chin in the palm of my head as my eyes glazed over thinking about yesterday's predicament.

_'I can't believe that actually happened… Momiji and Haru were there as well making matters even worse. How are we going to talk about something like THIS to them? And Rika was so calm about it which was very strange… even I'm very uneasy about it…'_

"Good morning, A-chan!" A loud voice shouted closely to my ear, resulting in me jumping up and out of my seat in fright.

I clutched my hand to my chest, attempting at calming my rapid heartbeat as a giddy Rika stood laughing at my position at the floor, I jerked my head up to her shouting, "Just _what the hell_ do you think you're doing?! Do you want me to die?!"

Her giggles subsided and it was then that I noticed the large bandaid on her cheek as she pouted, "No, of course I wouldn't want that! It was your own fault for noticing me in the first place!" She paused her brows knitting together in confusion, adding on, "And the fact that you are here so early before class has even started… what's gotten into you? Usually you're never this spacey!"

I stared at her incredulously _'What does she mean 'what's gotten into you?' Does she NOT remember yesterday at all? How is she acting so normal?! Of course I'd be deep in thought if something like that happened!'_

I opened my mouth to speak but soon closed it after seeing the two Sohma boys enter the room and shook my head muttering, "It's nothing. We'll talk about it later."

I slowly stood up and sat in my desk, waiting for the class to start. I felt Rika's gaze on my back before she turned away, swiftly walking over to her seat.

* * *

The last bell rang for the day and I got up rigidly from my seat thinking of the situation ahead of us. When I got to the front gate, I noted that everyone was there already, Momiji, Haru, and Rika, waiting around for me.

"ALLY-CHANNNN~! COME WITH US, WE WANT TO GO TO THE PARK~! YOU HAVE TIME TODAY, RIGHT~?!" Momiji shouted in a singsong voice.

I nodded a bit, making my way over, "Yeah, I can go."

"That's great! I wanted to play around in the park for a bit today and then I decided I could tell them about yesterday's predicament on the way there!" Rika chided.

My body tensed for a second before relaxing, "Err… okay…"

Haru deadpanned, "We should go now that you're here."

All of us agreed, nodding our heads, and then began on our way.

* * *

We walked in silence and out of the blue, Haru lazily spoke looking up at the sky, "Look, that cloud looks like a jellyfish."

As a result, more silence passed over us, making it even more awkward.

Rika giggled loudly, trying to lighten up the uncomfortable lack of conversation, "You're right! And that one looks like a neko, ne?"

I looked up to see it, my face contorting into confusion, "What do you mean? It _obviously_ looks like a flower…"

"Nuh uh! It's a neko!" She responded stubbornly, arms crossed in front of her.

"No, it's a flower!" I refused glaring at her, sparks beginning to fly between us.

"Neko!"

"Flower!"

"Neko!"

"Flower!"

"_NE-KO_!" She overly emphasized from her spot in front of me determinedly.

"_FLOW-ER_!" I yelled back.

Momiji intervened, "Um, guys…"

"_**What?!**_" We snapped in unison, glowering at him.

Haru pointed over to the crowd of people watching us, "…people are staring."

Our faces flushed with embarrassment over our own obliviousness and we imputed, "Oh."

The crowd began to disassemble and we continued our way to the park.

Rika sheepishly apologized, scratching the back of her neck, "Ano… I'm really sorry about that."

"Yeah, me too." I added in.

Haru spoke, "It's fine. Yuki and Kyo do the same thing but after awhile, they start fist fighting."

Rika gasped out, "_What?_ Are you serious?!"

Haru nodded in response as her jaw dropped in disbelief.

"Yeah, that's right but they don't do it as much now because it worries Tohru …but anyways, about yesterday…" Momiji trailed off, looking at the two of us from the corner of his eyes, obviously wanting an explanation.

Rika's pale blue eyes fell downcast, "Oh… yesterday… Yesterday was…" she paused trying to think of how to explain it, "I think I had _a bit_ of an episode…"

_'A bit?'_ I would've scoffed at her wording of it, if the atmosphere at the moment wasn't so tense.

"An episode? What do you mean?" He questioned perplexed.

"Well, you see, in the past, I was bullied… _a lot_. People would tell me such cruel things…and when I came back to an empty home everyday I couldn't take it. I would have episodes where I lose control and recklessly destroy things then all of the sudden come to my senses… I can honestly say that at that time, I was going insane and would see things that weren't there… I learned soon enough, it only got worse as time went on, letting all the negative things consume me… I didn't, no I **_couldn't_** _tell anyone_ what was happening to me."

* * *

**FLASHBACK-**

_"Have you been having fun at your new school, Ri-ri?" I glanced over at her awaiting her response._

_Her face fell blank as she stared down at the ground in front of her before grinning at me with all of her might, "Yeah! It's been so fun, I've gotten a lot of new friends!"_

_A smiled formed on my lips, "Really? Are they nice?"_

_Rika's pale, crystalline orbs softened at me, while she replied, "Mhmm! They're all super nice!"_

_"That's great, Rika. Maybe one day you can introduce me to them!" I brightened visibly at the idea._

_"Um yeah, sure! But for now," She grabbed my arm in her hand, starting to drag me, "let's go back to your house! It's getting kind of chilly!"_

_"Uh, okay…" I responded, a bit put off by her suddenness._

_I looked down at her hand on my arm as she trailed in front of me leading the way. My eyes widened at the sight of her wrist, covered in a string of scars, some looking as though they were recent._

_My eyes watered as my heart sank. I stayed silent thinking to myself 'Rika… you liar. You… why are you hurting yourself like this? What's really going on? Why aren't you telling me anything?'_

_As we reached my house, I pondered asking her about the scars, but in the end decided against it. I acted as if I never saw them, not wanting to face the idea of it because of the immense terror I felt. Little did I know, the horror I was feeling was **nowhere close to** the fear Rika felt at that time._

* * *

No one uttered a word, all eyes glued to her as she laced her fingers together in front of her petite stature, speaking again, "I would hurt myself a lot…**_purposely_**… _just wanting to disappear without a trace, not even having the will to live anymore._ And one day, something threw me completely overboard… so when I got home, I went into another one of my episodes, it getting so bad that I had ended up in the hospital."

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

_I knocked vigorously on the front door of the large, beautiful home in front of me, agitatedly muttering to myself, "Where is she? She knows that we made plans today to hangout, so why won't she answer the door?!"_

_I grew impatient, throwing the already unlocked door open, calling out into the dark house, "Rika, I'm coming in!"_

_I began pacing up the stairs, a bit frightened of how gloomy the house looked, praying that Rika was actually here and that I didn't just basically barge into their home when no one was home. I turned down the hallway to the left, turning on the lights contemplating if I should leave, but still continued on my way._

_Finally, I reached the door to Rika's room, giving out a sigh of relief while I pushed gingerly against the door, entering inside._

_Opening my eyes slowly, I looked down and brought my hands up to cover my mouth as I screamed loudly my eyes feasting upon the view in front of me. On the floor, their laid an unconscious Rika, a vertical gash deeply etched on to the skin of her wrist, blood oozing out rapidly, staining the carpet below her. A bottle of spilled pills were scattered all around her, a pocket knife resting loosely in one of her dainty hands. All I could entirely focus on for the time being was all the blood- the deep, pure red color and its rusty scent._

_Shaking my head around, I came back to reality and darted down the staircase not wasting anytime. With my blurred eyes I threw around random items on the cluttered desk in her father's office, finding the house phone then quickly dialing the number 911 with shaky hands._

_"911, What's your emergency?"_

_I stuttered, tears streaming down my face as I gripped the phone tightly, "M-my friend… upstairs…she's hurt really bad. A-and I don't know what to do! She's bleeding really badly from her wrist! I-I think it was a suicide attempt!"_

_"Please stay calm. Where's your location?"_

_"236 Tsunekuni…and I'm not sure what the postal code is…" I breathed out, attempting at calming down._

_The woman's smooth voice instructed, "That's enough information. I'm already tracking your location, soon help will be there, but for now, stay with your friend and try to stop the bleeding."_

_I rubbed furiously at my cheeks as the tears kept falling, muttering, "Hai. I'm going to hang up now."_

_I ran all the way to her room again, wrapping a towel around her wrist, placing her head in my lap. I gazed at her in silence for a moment before cradling her head towards me, breaking out into hysterics._

_"No, no, no, no! This can't be happening! This is a dream! This can't be happening!" I screeched out desperately, gripping her wrist even tighter._

_I began rocking the two of us back and forth, sloppily sobbing at the same time mumbling repeatedly, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Rika. I promise to protect you this time, I won't let you get hurt again. **I'm so sorry…**"_

* * *

"And? What happened at the hospital?" Haru prodded on.

She let out a shaky sigh, stopping as we stood at the entrance of the park, "The doctors told my parents that what I did was not an accident, but was due to _a sickness of the mind_ I had developed over time. But as soon as I got out of there, I decided to live with Allison and her mom for awhile since my parents didn't trust me to be alone anymore, and had also forced me into going to therapy."

I added on in my thoughts _'Where they diagnosed you with mental illnesses… but I doubt you'll tell them that… You're already scared enough as it is, aren't you Rika?' _

"I'm _really_ sorry you had to go through that, Rika-chan." Momiji spoke sympathetically.

She laughed, slapping him on the shoulder playfully, "It's not like its your fault, Momiji. You have nothing to apologize for… Anyways, I'm going to buy some ice cream to lift up this dreary mood! Does anyone want anything? It's my treat!"

"I'll have vanilla." I answered quickly.

"I want to have all of them, but strawberry sounds like the best right now!" Momiji cheered.

She nodded then looked pointedly over at Haru, "And you?"

He shook his head, "No thank you. I don't want one."

"Okay! I'll be right back, guys!"

As soon as she was a safe distance away, I watched her walk up to the ice cream stand, somberly speaking to the Sohma boys behind me, "You know, all she's ever wanted is for people to like her. She's _always_ yearned for people to accept who she is and _still want to be friends with her nonetheless_. The reason we transferred schools here was so that we could restart and forget all the bad things from our previous schools." I turned around to face them, "When she got here, despite everything that has happened, she put on a huge smile and was friendly, just seeking to make friends - and then she met you two. She finally found people that really did like her and she was so happy… but she was also scared, scared you would find out what she used to be like and come to hate her. She thought that if you saw her in the state she was in, _you would leave her_, just like everyone else has… So what I guess I'm asking you now, is you'll still be friends with us, right? If seeing something like that, made you think less of her in anyway, then **_back off_**."

Momiji gasped, defensively, "We… we would never not like Rika-chan! _Rika is still Rika no matter what!_ We always want to be friends with you two no matter what you go through! This side of her… she didn't want to be like this…"

Haru added on, "It was other people who made her like this…It was what other people told her to make her act that way, right?"

As always, I was awestruck by the two boys and blinked, "Yeah… that's exactly right…"

"So can you tell us what exactly those people did to her?" Haru pondered boldly.

I nodded before letting out a sigh, "Well, first off you should know that they were all 'friends' before, but then they began ignoring her. Curious and upset, Rika confronted them about it and found that they were just using her. Due to this she fled, and the next day the kid who led the whole group was badly injured and put into the hospital." I paused, my eyes narrowing at the ground in anger, "Because of this, they started to blame Rika, saying that _she cursed him_ since he was making people ignore her, using the unusual appearance of her eyes to tell others that she was 'possessed'. Telling her terrible things on a daily basis _uncaring_ of how it could effect her."

"That's horrible! How could people do something like that to Rika?! It's unforgivable!" Momiji shouted, making people look over in our direction.

"Hey! Quite down, people are staring, Momiji-kun!" I yelled in a whisper to him.

He looked around and laughed, "Oh, I guess you're right! But I'm actually really happy to know about this actually. I feel like I understand the both of you a lot more… Like why you're so protective over Rika…" His eyes met mine, making my heart flutter, "It's because you don't want her to be hurt again, ne?"

I nodded solemnly, "I don't want anymore pain inflicted on her. I just want her to be happy… _she deserves it_."

At that moment was when the said girl came back, "Everyone! They ran out of strawberry Momiji-kun so I got you caramel instead…"

"I love caramel~! Thank you so much, Rika-chan!" He gave her a quick peck on the cheek, taking the two ice cream cones out of her hands.

Momiji gave me mine and I began to thank her, "Thank you, Ri-ri."

She smiled back at me, "It was no problem!"

Momiji then took my hand in his and started to drag me to the swing set, "Let's play here, okay? I love swings!"

Rika jumped in the swing set next to him, "Me too! They're really fun!"

Haru sat beside me and spoke in monotone, "Isn't it a little weird to have all these kids looking over at us?"

I looked up and noticed the glares of the kids for stealing their swing set and I chuckled a bit nervously, "They look like they want to murder us…"

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FRUITS BASKET! I APOLOGIZE FOR THIS!**

**Hi guys! If you were wondering about Rika's "mental illnesses", she was diagnosed with psychosis and Borderline Personality Disorder. I really will try to update more, so stay tuned for the next chapter!**


End file.
